Comic Rack – Fatale #23

For the entire run of Fatale writer Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have offered hints and glimpses to Josephine‘s past but have largely kept the reader in the dark as to the specifics of her long tortured existence. Setting up next month’s series finale, Fatale #23 changes that as Nicholas Lash relives some of the more brutal moments of the woman’s past during a night of sexual ecstasy that opens his eyes to secrets which Josephine has kept long buried.

The ritual which transformed her is still quite shrouded in mystery, but along with setting up Lash’s pivotal role in next month’s finale the glimpses we get here into Josephine’s past concerning the tragedy of her son are as heartbreaking for the reader as the man who has become consumed with her love.

I’m going to be sad to see Fatale end, but the rich history of Josephine leaves open any number of stories for Brubaker and Phillips to return to the character somewhere down the line. Worth a look.